If Storytelling “Comes Naturally,” Why Is It So Hard?

April 8, 2016

Storytelling intrigues me.

Man has loved to tell–and hear–stories from our earliest days, gathered together over a flickering fire as night falls… “Storytelling is one of the many things that define and bind our humanity,” according to this article on the history of storytelling.

I believe it.

It’s a skill worth learning and something we can truly have fun with, if we occasionally let our imaginations out to play. Storytelling is hard until we’ve practiced enough to make it easier.

You’d think public relations pros and journalists would have a natural talent for storytelling.

We like to tell ourselves we do, maybe, but the truth is that most of us just don’t do a great job at it. We’ve been taught to write in a straightforward, factual manner, “telling the news” and leaving the actual story up to the media. We forget to set that tendency aside and it creeps into the content we create.

It seems making the leap is very difficult for many – even in journalism. Look at newspaper “stories” today? @PRisUs@RonPloof#prprochat

Adding to the challenge, many of us struggle with our writing, realizing it’s a weak spot, and have limited resources to pursue alternative non-written forms available to tell our stories.

Now clients want to step up their content marketing, brand journalism, blogging, podcasting, videos and other forms of content creation that stretch our talents in new directions, and it’s falling under the public relations umbrella.

It’s terrifying, it’s fantastic and it’s difficult.

We’ve already gone from juggling six or seven hats to juggling a hundred, and storytelling skills don’t come easy. Is this something that’s important?

Storytelling is ABSOLUTELY one of the most valuable skills to absorb, in my opinion. The ability to tell a great story trickles down into everything else we do. Like ketchup, ranch or chocolate -there’s almost nothing it can’t improve.

Whether it’s a single clever sentence to set the stage and flip on the spotlight, or something longer, storytelling creates a valuable connection. It doesn’t have to be a tall tale with multiple characters and a complex plot worthy of Stephen King’s approval – it can be something small, like highly descriptive word choices, analogies or a narrative voice instead of third-person. How dominant the story becomes in your piece of content is completely up to you.

Storytelling skills also set you apart from many others in our industry who have limited themselves to a traditional media relations focus.

Adding a storytelling flavor to what we create is fantastic -the sign of a truly talented PR pro.

I have one more idea to throw in the pot today… Looking at examples of what other’s do right is always a great way to learn. I found these interesting.

The “Taylor vs Treadmill” video is actually what stimulated this post today.

Three Stellar Examples of Storytelling

Written and visual storytelling are both powerful – and a combination of both is even better.

EXAMPLE ONE:

I really love how corporate storytelling is incorporated into this Airbnb Belong Anywhere campaign – kudos to whomever created it for them. It’s a nice approach. It also integrates visual with the written very nicely.

EXAMPLES TWO & THREE:

In some ways, PR professionals can learn storytelling skills from great commercials. They tell a story in a 30- or 60-second spot in a way that connects to a specific brand message, something we must also do.

Examples two and three are very well done. Promotion is fairly mild, relying on the story to sell their point with humor and intelligence. They also connect nicely to a specific, single sentence brand message in a way that is powerful, memorable and shareable.

Love ’em.

Tampons If men had periods, here’s what the tampon ads might look like…